Saccharina japonica

A commercially important species, Saccharina japonica is known as kombu (in China haidai, in Korea dasima), an important food from Japan. Large harvests are produced by rope cultivation, a simple method of growing seaweeds by attaching them to floating ropes in the ocean.[1][2]

The species is native to Japan, but has been cultivated in China, Japan, Russia, France, and Korea.[3] It is one of the two most consumed species of kelp in China and Japan.[1] The harvest is also used for the production of alginates, with China producing up to ten thousand tonnes of the product each year.[4]

The species was transferred to Saccharina in 2006.[5] Three synonyms for this species name are Laminaria japonica J.E. Areschoug 1851, its variety Laminaria japonica var. ochotensis (Miyabe) Okamura 1936, and Laminaria ochotensis Miyabe 1902.[3]